December
by JakeTheCat
Summary: Human AU Elizabeta has always been independent and never needed a man to lean on, as proven by her relations with a certain albino in her village. But when a new neighbor moves in will she be able to resist the charm? Or will she do what she swore she never would? Rating is subject to change due to language, violence and other mature content
1. Chapter 1

**Hello~ JakeTheCat here with my first ever **_**Hetalia **_**fic! -happy dance- For my fans who have read my other stories, don't worry my others will be getting updated still, I'm not abandoning them. I've just fallen head over heels for **_**Hetalia **_**and couldn't help but write something for it. I'm not sure how long this will be, but it's safe to assume that it will be over fifteen chapters (if my brain doesn't quit on me). Also, this story is going to be based around music (duh, it's Austria) but it's **_**not **_**a songfic, I promise. Just certain events will be inspired by music. I even listed the first song at the beginning of this chapter to give you guys a hint as to what the story will be like (there won't be a song for every chapter, in fact this song isn't even related to this chapter). Ok, I think that's it! Hope you like it!**

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><p><em>Flower gleam and glow,<em>

_Let your power shine,_

_Make the clock reverse,_

_Bring back what once was mine._

_Heal what has been hurt,_

_Change the fate's design,_

_Save what has been lost,_

_Bring back what once was mine._

_What once was mine…_

"Healing Song" from the movie _Tangled_

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

"Gilbert, I swear, if you don't give that back right now –"

The woman was cut off as the white-haired man dropped her bag down on the snow in front of her, a huge smirk forming on his face. His cheeks were flushed, not only from the cold but from the thrill of tormenting his childhood friend. Well, at least he liked to say they were friends.

He received a scowl as the young woman bent to pick up her bag, mumbling something to herself angrily as she gathered the sack that carried her groceries. It was bad enough having to go to the market in this weather, but running into Gilbert only made things worse.

"Come on, Lizzie," he groaned as she straightened up, "You know I'm just messing with ya."

"It's Elizabeta," she snapped, "And I'm not exactly fond of you being a jerk to me all the time."

The albino rolled his eyes as she pushed past him, beginning to head back to her house. He swung himself around and began following her, putting his hands in his pockets and grinning to himself when he saw Elizabeta's back hunch over with irritation.

"What am I going to have to do in order to get rid of you?" she sighed.

"Let me take you on a date," he answered smoothly.

"Something realistic, please."

Gilbert didn't mind the shot to his ego. She'd been dealing these blows at him for years, but he still refused to give up; he was a rather persistent bastard. When he set his eyes on something he went after it until he got it. The only problem was that Elizabeta was rather difficult to catch.

"I think that's realistic," he pointed out.

"Don't make me get Vash over here to blow your brains out," she snapped.

At that, Gilbert did hesitate slightly. Elizabeta's Swiss roommate was rather intimidating with his never-ending supply of firearms. But the man was more protective over his little sister than Elizabeta, so he wasn't too threatened. He knew that he could beat the guy up any day if it came to it, but his skill with a gun was what made Gilbert keep his distance.

Still, he continued to follow after her, unwilling to let her win today.

"I think Vash is more worried about the new guy," Gilbert said as he walked up closer to her, "I mean someone's actually moving into that old death trap of a house? Whoever it is, he's gotta be nuts. And it's not like Vash to have any crazies anywhere near Lilli."

Elizabeta rolled her eyes and clutched her bag tighter to her chest. That was the whole talk of the town recently. Someone was going to be moving in to the old Germanic mansion at the edge of the town.

The story was that the last owner had gone missing and was never seen or heard from again. That'd been decades ago and now the old house was rotting and covered with ivy. Elizabeta simply thought whoever was moving in would make improvements and the mansion would look normal again, even amongst the other houses. She didn't see what the big deal was.

"Vash is actually very curious to meet our future resident," Elizabeta informed him, "And he's hoping that there will possibly be someone for Lilli to play with."

"As if!" Gilbert snorted, "I'm telling ya, it's gonna be some crazy that's gonna drive this town insane!"

"As credible as your words of wisdom are, I highly doubt that. Now just… go away! I need to go home and make dinner."

With that, she shoved him to the side, catching him off guard and sending him falling into the snow. She allowed a satisfied grin to form on her lips before walking away curtly to her home, leaving the man swearing in German after her.

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><p>"Vash, Lilli, I'm home," Elizabeta called as she stepped inside the house.<p>

"Welcome home!" Lilli's familiar sweet voice cried.

Though the house was small, Elizabeta couldn't see either of her housemates. They were most likely in the parlor, which was all the way in the back.

As she set her bag down in the kitchen and put away groceries, she could hear the others' footsteps as they came closer.

"Hello, Liz," Vash said warmly, "Find everything alright?"

"Yep," the woman replied, "Dinner should be ready soon."

"Can I help?" Lilli piped up.

Elizabeta smiled and nodded. The girl was adorable and it was practically impossible to say no to her. So, since Lilli was helping, all three of them helped to prepare dinner. With all of them working together, it was ready quickly and they all dug in.

"So did Gilbert give you a hard time today?" Vash asked after he swallowed his bite.

"Unfortunately," Elizabeta grumbled, "He won't leave me alone. And then he went off about the new neighbor that's supposed to be moving in soon."

Vash looked at her puzzled at the last statement.

"Why'd he bring that up?"

"I don't know. He thinks the person's going to be a loon who will drive us all mad. I don't know where he comes up with these stories."

"Neither do I. Gilbert's always been an odd duck. Though, you must admit, his pursuit of you is quite sweet."

The woman almost choked on her mouthful of food. _Sweet?_In what way on this planet was Gilbert _sweet?_

She coughed and pounded her fist on her chest once to make sure the food went down before speaking.

"Are you insane?" she asked, "That guy's so rude! How is him making my life miserable sweet?"

Her roommate simply took a swig of his water and shrugged his shoulders.

"He's been after you for so long," he explained, "To not give up… it's rather admirable."

Elizabeta shivered with disgust. Ugh! Since when did Vash like Gilbert? Was there something in the air that was making everyone lose their minds?

She excused herself from the table, declaring that she was going to go on a walk. In all honesty, she just wanted to be alone with the one sane person she knew: herself.

Even though the wind had picked up and the snow was starting to whirl around her, Elizabeta carried on down the long road that practically every house and store in the village resided on. In actuality, there were only a few places not on this road, such as a sawmill and a couple of farms. Other than that, only the mysterious empty mansion was the only structure not on this lengthy path of dirt.

Elizabeta kicked at a piece of snow with her boot, sending it crumbling forth around her leathered foot. She'd never been a lover of winter – it made everything cold and dead. But she'd just have to wait for spring, where the sun would bring back life and promise of happiness. Until then, she'd just have to suffer like the rest of the living creatures she shared the world with.

Something, though she didn't know what exactly, caused Elizabeta to look up and realize she'd strayed from the path that set her course, but had instead wandered on the small road to the old mansion that the village's newest resident would live. In fact, she was basically standing at its gates.

She came to an abrupt halt, not wanting to run into the rusty iron bars before her. Or the boy standing behind them.

He'd probably seen her walking over and wondered what the hell her problem was and came over to investigate. There was no way he could be over ten, proven by both his height and the innocence in his hazel eyes that seemed to look directly through her.

For a moment they just stared, her at him and him through her.

"What are you doing?" he suddenly asked in a high pitched voice, causing the small amount of intelligence she sensed in him to evaporate.

Again, she stared. His reddish hair was kept short and nicely, despite one unruly piece that curled out of the left side of his head like it was begging to be noticed. His head had tilted to the side in curiosity, those orbs still going right on through.

"I'm sorry," she said after a moment, "I was just walking and happened to come this way for some reason."

"Oh."

He seemed much more innocent now, a smile forming on his small lips as he seemed to glow with the happiness of encountering a new person.

"I'm Feliciano," he said cheerily, "I work for Mr. Austria here, but he's working right now so I came out to make snow angels!"

Elizabeta followed his finger as he pointed at an area in front of the house, several sloppy snow angels sprawled out in the snow, hastily jumping all over the ground. She smiled at the sight, remembering her own childhood when she did such things.

She thought about what the boy had just said. He worked for the person living here? Was that even legal? And he'd called him Mr. Austria. Was he a diplomat from the country or something? Or would the man not give his name away?

"What's your name?" the boy piped up, pulling Elizabeta from her thoughts.

"Oh. I'm Elizabeta."

"Neat! You have a long name like me, too! Mr. Austria says his name isn't hard to say, but I think so!"

So the man _did_have a name; the boy just didn't like saying it. That was certainly interesting.

"I didn't know anyone had moved in here yet," she remarked.

"Mr. Austria didn't want to tell anyone yet," the boy explained, "He said he wants to get settled in before meeting anyone."

"Isn't meeting people a part of settling in?"

The boy tilted his head again curiously, thinking.

"I think so," he said after a moment, "But Mr. Austria likes his work better than people it seems."

_Sounds like a real exciting person,_Elizabeta thought. Another stuffed up man who only wanted money and not relationships or friends.

"Well, I need to go," Feliciano chirped, "I need to get to work on my chores! Bye Miss Eliz-afante-eta?"

Elizabeta laughed and said bye as well, watching the little boy hurry off to the house and rushing inside before he was scolded for talking to strangers.

He seemed sweet enough, but from his description of the master of the house, Elizabeta wasn't too thrilled. This village already seemed claustrophobic; a stuffed up geezer like him probably wouldn't help enhance the atmosphere.

If anything, he wouldn't do anything. He'd slip right through the cracks unnoticed and never brush a hand over Elizabeta's life. And truthfully, she didn't give a damn.

Feliciano really hoped that Mr. Austria wouldn't be mad at his encounter with the pretty lady at the gate. He'd only seen her and gone over to shoo her away, but she was so pretty and didn't seem mean. Despite her complicated name, he liked her and hoped to see her again once Mr. Austria let them go out in the town.

He hoped he'd be able to sneak in the kitchen and start his chores without being noticed, but his hopes were dashed.

"Feliciano," the familiar voice called, "Kommen sie hier."

The young boy reluctantly made his way to his master's study, finding him sitting as his desk, his gloved fingers stroking its keys softly.

"What were you doing outside?" he asked.

Oh no, this was it. He was going to punish him. Make him clean the whole house without any lunch. So cruel…

"A woman came to the gate," he replied meekly.

"And?"

"And I spoke to her… she was pretty and nice so I don't think I did anything wrong."

"You didn't. I'm glad you were honest. Now if you could go get me some tea, I'll play you that song of yours."

Feliciano's eyes lit up. Not only at the mention of being let off the hook, but at the opportunity of hearing his master's favorite piece of work.

"Sì!" the boy replied happily and shuffled off to make the drink.

The man smiled after him, removing his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose gently.

He honestly hadn't minded Feliciano's encounter with the woman, who he assumed was a resident of the village. The boy was a social butterfly and it was good for him to meet plenty of people. He just hadn't wanted to introduce themselves to the village yet, not when they weren't completely moved in.

For some reason he felt like he had to be prepared to present himself to the village upon introductions, which included making his house nice and tidy. That's just how he was.

"Mr. Austria!" the squeaky voice cried, "I have your tea!"

The little boy came scurrying back in the room, a tea cup sitting on a saucer in one hand as the other waved around animatedly.

"You know my name is Mr. Edelstein," the man sighed as he was handed the drink, "Or even Mr. Roderich."

"Sì, but they're both so long and I forget. And since you come from Austria, it's easier to call you that."

Roderich just rolled his eyes and took a sip from the cup.

He remembered how the boy's parents were worried that he was too carefree and wouldn't grow up to be an adult with a realistic concept of the world. To solve this, they'd sent him off with Roderich, a cultured gentleman who would be able to teach him etiquette and how to be an adult.

Still, the boy was hardly eight and Mr. Edelstein didn't want to put too much pressure on him. So for now he was more of an errand boy and a housekeeper until he got old enough to learn the proper ways of becoming a man.

"Will you play that song now, Sir?" Feliciano asked hopefully.

Roderich set the cup down and gave him a nod in response, patting the spot next to him on the bench. The boy eagerly jumped up and sat next to him, anticipating the lovely noise that was about to fill the air.

So, in order to keep the boy from breaking something with the anticipation he had bottled in, Mr. Edelstein began to carry out his work.

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><p><strong>So that's it for now! Hehe, I love Chibitalia~ I also notice that I have a thing for guys with glasses (Austria, America, Sweden, etc.) so expect a lot of them sometime in the future.<strong>

**I don't have much to say since that's the first chapter other than to please review. That's what keeps me updating so the more the merrier~ Okay then, see you guys later!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hai everyone! First off, I _did not_ expect this to get favorited and put on alert with just the first chapter! You guys rock! Even if I did only get three reviews *coughcough* Oh well, that's how all stories start off I suppose. I should give you a fair warning that intros are not my strong point so I apologize if this chapter is as weak as it is short. Sorry about that also, I didn't want to cram a bunch of filler stuff in here just to make it longer. So here you go!**

Chapter 2

Elizabeta was walking through town, allowing herself to kick at the snow on the ground playfully as she hummed a tune to herself that had been a part of her past, though she couldn't remember how. All she knew was that it made her happy so she continued to hum.

"Lizzie! Wait up!"

The woman's peaceful humming came to a stop as she clenched her teeth at the sound of Gilbert's voice, picking up her pace and not bothering to look at the flurries of snow that danced at her feet.

An arm fell around her shoulders, instantly causing her to try and shake it off.

"Aw, not happy to see me?" Gilbert snickered.

"When am I ever?" Elizabeta groaned.

As usual, the man didn't mind the insult. He simply tightened his hold on her, refusing to let her shake him off.

"So I hear our new neighbors have moved in," he said louder than necessary, "Bet they're freaks!"

"Knock it off, Gilbert," she hissed, "You're suffocating me with your immaturity. They're just normal people, I'm sure."

"Moving into _that _house? Come on, be real, Lizzie! If they're so normal you oughtta go up and knock on their door and be real neighborly! When you see them I bet you'll be whistling another tune."

She finally managed to get him off, shoving him forcefully to the side with all her strength even though he only sidestepped a bit.

"Unlike you, I _would _be polite," she snapped, "And _would _introduce myself."

"Oh yeah?" Gilbert challenged, "Prove it!"

Elizabeta was caught off guard, looking over at the albino quizzically.

"Go over and introduce yourself," he taunted, "Or are you too afraid?"

For a moment, Elizabeta stared at him with her big green eyes, until she began to bite her bottom lip angrily.

Though she'd never admit it, she and Gilbert _had _been close as children. She was a tomboy and he was the biggest troublemaker in the village, so of course she'd always want and get mixed in anything he stirred up. They'd romped around in mud and tortured the neighbor's cat on a regular basis, earning them a not so good reputation from most of the adults.

But they'd grown up, or at least Elizabeta had, and she became tired of his childish ways. She'd grown up thinking they were going to get married, but once they'd reached adolescence he'd made it clear that he saw her as a buddy and nothing more so she'd given up on those feelings and distanced herself from him.

Still, she never backed down when he challenged her as a child and now that complex was coming back to haunt her even as a young woman.

"I'm not afraid," she replied, "But I'm courteous enough to not bother them. They haven't introduced themselves and probably won't until they're comfortable."

"Don't be such a girl!" Gilbert teased, "What happened to the Lizzie I used to know?"

At that, he received a smack to the back of the head, causing him to mutter a swear in German before looking up and realizing she was walking toward the path that led to the creepy old mansion.

"You coming or what?" she called over her shoulder.

Gilbert grinned and clicked his heels before running over to join her.

"That's my Lizzie!" he cheered.

"Not yours, and it's Elizabeta. Now shut up so I can put this nonsense to rest."

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><p>Gilbert watched from a distance as Elizabeta walked up to the front door, lifting up her skirts so she wouldn't trip on the steps.<p>

She looked back and saw Gilbert hiding behind a nearby tree, peaking out every few seconds to make sure she didn't back out.

"He's such a child," she mumbled under her breath.

But if she wanted to get rid of him, she'd have to fulfill his childish wish. So she lifted her arm and gave three quick knocks, rolling her eyes as she heard Gilbert caught his breath.

How disappointed he'd be when he found out it was only a little boy and his stuffy old master. But at least he'd realize he was an idiot and stop pestering her about possible freaks living in the mansion.

When no one opened the door, Elizabeta sighed and walked back down the steps over to Gilbert, who was waving his arms frantically.

"I told you!" he hissed, "They're probably doing some weird ritual inside!"

Elizabeta scoffed and kicked some snow at him.

"You are such a kid," she groaned, "I knocked, so that's enough. I'm going home."

"Wait!"

He reached out and grabbed her wrist, jerking her back to him. She made an annoyed sound of protest but followed his finger as he pointed at something on the house.

There was a window on the first floor cracked open slightly, just enough to let some air in and to keep any snow out.

"It's a window," Elizabeta huffed, "So?"

"An _open _window!" Gilbert breathed, "We can get in there and see if they really are weirdos!"

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"Come on, Lizzie! Have some guts! If you do it I'll stop bugging ya!"

A rather tempting offer when Elizabeta thought about it. Unfortunately, she decided to agree to this idea just to get Gilbert off her back. There really wasn't any other way of getting him to shut up at this point.

The two of them snuck over to the side of the house, Gilbert quickly peering inside.

"Whoa, these people are loaded!" he breathed, "Big fireplace and piano and everything!"

"They don't seem like freaks, do they?" Elizabeta snapped.

"Naw, they just do this to cover it up. Alright, you go in the window because you're smaller. Then you can open the door and let me in."

"I never agreed to that!"

But Gilbert had already pushed her towards the window, lifting it up a tad so she could fit in.

She let out a reluctant sigh and squirmed under the window, managing to get her arms and waist through.

"I'll go by the door," Gilbert whispered.

He quickly let go of the window and darted to the front door, disappearing in a flurry of white.

Unfortunately, the window had fallen and pinned poor Elizabeta in place, hanging limply halfway between freedom and terror.

"Gilbert!" she hissed as she struggled to push herself through the window, "You bastard!"

She kicked her feet hard, trying to slide through, but to no avail. The window wouldn't let her budge.

"I'm gonna kill him," she growled through clenched teeth.

There was the sudden sound of someone clearing their throat and Elizabeta looked up to only have her face go pale.

A man was standing a few feet in front of her, his head tilted to the side. He dressed in a way that matched the elegance of the room – a blue coat, tan trousers and brown rubber boots. His violet eyes were rather amused through the spectacles residing on his nose, the small smile pulling on his lips pointing out his beauty mark. Despite how nicely his brown hair was combed, a horribly unruly piece curled directly up, something she'd never seen before.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

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><p>As if it would help her, Elizabeta clenched her eyes shut and tried pushing herself out of the window again, this time to get out of the house. If she couldn't see him then maybe he couldn't see her.<p>

In reality, the man watched her perplexed wondering what on earth she was doing.

"Is it custom for people to enter through windows here?" he asked at a stab at humor, "Or is that specifically for you?"

Elizabeta gasped and felt a horrible blush spreading across her face, her eyes watering in embarrassment. There was no way this could be happening. She'd never be caught in such a ridiculous situation!

"Gilbert," she muttered helplessly, finally giving up her attempts to escape.

The man reached over and lifted the window up with one arm, offering the other to the woman trapped.

She looked up at the hand, only to blush more. How pathetic to be helped by the owner of the house you were attempting to sneak into. Regardless, she accepted his hand and allowed him to help her through, stumbling a tad and falling into his arms, the window falling with a thud.

"Nice to meet you, too," he laughed as he helped her balance.

Finally, she managed to find her voice.

"I am… I am _so _sorry! I didn't mean to! There's this guy who won't leave me alone and he dared me and I just –"

"A grown woman choosing her actions by a _dare?"_ the man asked rather surprised, "That's rather foolish."

That only made her blush more. Great, now he thought she was some immature brat like Gilbert.

"Though I suppose there are already rumors flying about me and this place," he said with a wave of his hand, "Curiosity can't be helped. I'm Roderich Edelstein. Pleased to meet you."

He offered her a gloved hand, which she took shakily. How the hell was he so calm about this?

"Elizabeta Héderváry," she answered weakly, "Like I said, I'm so sorry for intruding, it's just that –"

"Miss Eli-sienta-bella!" a small voice chirped.

Both adults looked over to see the small boy Feliciano running inside, an enormous smile plastered on his face. He came up and hugged Elizabeta's leg, much to her surprise.

"You came back!" he squeaked, "But there was no knock at the door?"

"She found other means of entering," Roderich replied, making Elizabeta blush again.

The boy turned to Roderich, looking at him curiously.

"You know Miss Ella-sierra-better?" he asked, "She's the pretty lady from the other day!"

"Oh?" Roderich looked over at the woman with a subtle raise of his eyebrows. "Well I suppose she's returned to see you."

"I really didn't mean to bother you," Elizabeta said quickly, "I can go right now if you want. I'm so sorry, I feel terrible."

"That's alright, Miss!" Feliciano squealed, giving up on her name, "Mr. Austria won't mind! He just sits around and works all day."

The man gave an irritated glare to the boy, quickly shutting him up.

"If you do feel so bad about it," the man sighed, "You could do something to make it up."

Elizabeta's hopes lifted. She'd never enjoyed making a fool of herself and if there was ever anything she could do to fix it, she would.

"Certainly," she answered, "What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing difficult," he said nonchalantly, "It's just that this house is quite big and Feliciano can't do everything. So you can be my housekeeper."

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><p><strong>Awkward turtle time~ So yay, Roderich and Elizabeta have met! I didn't want to put that off because I want to dive into this story right away and hopefully entertain you guys and not bore you to death with filler after filler.<strong>

**Also, I have a poll on my profile to vote for your favorite nation. Actually, your top five, but you get the idea. I'm thinking whoever gets the most votes will have a special role in the story, so if you want your favorite to be in it, I suggest you vote!**

**That's it for now! Thanks for all the favorites and alerts, it makes me want to keep going! Just please review because that's how I get my feedback on how to improve or to know what I'm doing right. So, until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Holy crap guys I'm alive! I am soooooooooooo sorry I haven't updated in God knows how long. I've just been kinda not motivated but I slapped myself around and realized I need to get myself into gear and write! Plus, there's no way in hell I'm giving up on a fic revolving around one of my OTP's.**

**Also, I mentioned how I'd put the character people voted for the most on my poll in this story. Well. There was a clear favorite and so I decided to put him (yes it's a male country) in this chapter to start things off! But I couldn't just add him without anyone else so, there's a surprise character in there as well. So without further ado, the next chapter!**

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><p><em>Seasons are changing and waves are crahshing<em>

_And stars are falling all for us_

_Days grow longer and nights grow shorter_

_I can show you, I'll be the one_

_I will never let you fall_

_I'll stand up with you forever_

_I'll be there for you through it all _

_Even if saving you sends me to Heaven._

- "Your Guardian Angel" by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

Needless to say, Gilbert was rather disappointed when he learned of the new residents of the old mansion, but didn't bother to mention to Elizabeta that he'd run off when she got pulled inside since he assumed that she was a goner.

She'd gotten her revenge through a whack with her frying pan and she hoped that had taught him a lesson about breaking and entering. Perhaps it had worked, but that didn't keep him from leaving her alone like he said he would.

Elizabeta managed to elude him by going to Mr. Austria's house to work, which Gilbert avoided since he didn't want to be known as the one who'd tried to break into the house with Lizzie.

At first she didn't think she'd be able to enjoy her new career considering that she was basically the housekeeper of her own home as well. However, taking care of her little shack was nothing compared to handling the mansion she was now in charge of.

For one, Mr. Edelstein didn't do anything at all to help. He would sit in his office and do paperwork for god knows what or tune his piano now and again. She rarely heard him play, so she assumed he wasn't too good.

More than that, Feliciano was barely capable of handling many chores besides sweeping and dusting since he couldn't reach very high. He was also too young to carry anything heavy, so that was yet another chore given to Elizabeta.

So much for this being easy, she thought. This backbreaking labor was going to kill her at this rate.

* * *

><p>At a train station not too far from where Elizabeta was dealing with her new dilemma, an Englishman of hardly twenty-three years of age was stepping off an overcrowded train that had arrived from Berlin.<p>

It had been a long and rather unpleasant trip, so the man was rather pleased to get off the damn thing.

The cold winter air bit at his cheeks, turning them red despite his attempts to look away and avoid the wind. He pulled his hat down more, hoping that it would at least shield his eyes.

"Bloody snow," he hissed as he clutched his one enormous suitcase stuffed with his amenities for the trip.

He hadn't wanted to come here – if anything he wanted to stay in England for his whole life – but his family had recommended he travel if he planned on pursuing his business career, and Austria seemed like a decent place to start out in.

The man attempted to make his way through the crowd, but the amount of swarming bodies forced him into pushing and shoving. Despite his apologies, this ticked off a larger man who felt the need to shove the Brit to the ground in protest.

"We're all trying to get somewhere, what makes you so special?" he spat.

The Brit groaned from the sudden impact with the ground and shook his head to reorient himself. That fall had knocked his hat clean off, causing him to swear under his breath. It had been a gift from his mother and it was the only thing he had brought of her here.

To his surprise, when he looked up someone was kneeling in front of him, the hat he'd lost residing in the other's hand.

"You okay, fancy pants?" a voice asked.

The Brit scowled at the man holding his hat. He had dirty blonde hair with one horribly unruly piece sticking up in the front, bright blue eyes behind his spectacles and a horribly amused smirk on his face.

"I'm fine!" the other snapped as he snatched the hat out of his hand, "Bloody wanker!"

His swearing amused the boy, who seemed much younger, causing his smile to widen.

"You must be an Englishman, huh?" he asked, "Always picking on us Americans."

That only made the Brit more irritated. A damn Yankee. Just what he needed.

The American offered his hand to help him up, but the Brit just glared at it and got up on his own.

"You gotta be more careful," the younger man continued, "Europe's kind of a bastard. Guess you wouldn't know bein' on your island and all."

Now the Brit was furious.

"Who are you to speak to me in such a manner?" he demanded.

"Alfred F. Jones!" the other answered cheerfully, "Born and raised in the good state of Maine! And you, Mr. Top Hat?"

"Arthur Kirkland, though I don't know why I'd provide you my name. Besides, what would you know about Europe?"

"Been here for a year, left my home when I turned eighteen. Wanted to explore!"

"Charming," Arthur grumbled.

"Well it's clear you need some help, so allow me to provide it."

"I beg your pardon, but I never asked for help! I'm fine on my own."

"Really? Ya know you just got pick-pocketed?"

Arthur blinked and quickly stuffed his hands in his pockets, realizing that his wallet had disappeared. He searched around frantically before Alfred raised his hand up and showed him the wallet. Arthur's face reddened as he tore the wallet from Alfred's hand.

"Give that back, bloody git!" he snarled.

"See?" Alfred sighed, "You need me. Come on, I need someone to stay with for a bit – my last partner ditched me in France. And you obviously need someone with the smarts to get you around."

"I do not!"

Alfred frowned and lifted his hand up, revealing the wallet again.

Arthur felt in his pockets and immediately glared at the boy.

"Stop doing that!" he snapped.

The American smirked and tossed the wallet back, looking rather pleased with himself in the Brit's opinion.

"You won't last a week without me," Alfred sighed, "So why not just let me help ya? Not gonna hurt anyone is it?"

He offered his dirty hand to the other, his horribly cheery grin never ceasing to fade. Arthur stared at him a moment, contemplating. It was clear he probably wasn't the best suited person to stay in Europe. But he didn't need a bloody American's help, even if the lad did seem quite honest about his suggestion. In the end, the Brit gave him the easiest answer possible.

"Sod off."

* * *

><p>It had hardly been a few weeks when Elizabeta found herself lingering at Mr. Austria's house past work hours, busying herself with something she managed to pass off as work while Roderich would busy himself on the piano.<p>

Elizabeta had discovered that not only could Roderich play the piano, but he played it better than probably anyone who had ever lived on this godforsaken planet.

She would stay almost hours later than necessary, just to hear those beautiful notes float through her ears, some beautiful romantic scene formulating in her mind that the song would fit just perfectly.

And now, on a cold December night, she mindlessly swept at the same patch of floor, fantasizing as his sweet music rang throughout the house. It sounded like something that would be played at a ball, with well-dressed man twirling women in gorgeous gowns all night, as if it was a fairytale.

Hardly realizing what she was doing, Elizabeta lifted up the broom and began dancing around with it as if it was the King of England, guiding her gracefully around his ballroom. She hummed along to the tune softly in hopes of being able to somehow remember it through her own interpretation.

Meanwhile, Roderich carried on with his own dance as his fingers slid over the piano's keys, hitting each note perfectly. It didn't matter what song it was to him; as long as he played it well, it sounded like heaven.

Somewhere in the middle of the song, Elizabeta had managed to dance her way into the master's music room, her eyes closed as she imagined the handsome man who was enchanting her. Roderich looked over and startled slightly, but slowly smiled and relaxed.

The girl had often stayed behind to listen to him play, but this was the first time he'd ever seen anyone so enraptured with his music. He felt rather flattered to be honest.

He allowed himself to close the song subtly and quietly, so that Elizabeta would hardly notice and continue her dancing. She was humming the tune, he noted, almost perfectly. Roderich rose from his bench and went over to her, gently tapping her on the shoulder.

Elizabeta made a rather embarrassing squeaky sound, jumping and whirling around to see Mr. Edelstein standing there, smiling at her. Her words caught in her throat as she tried to think of an explanation – this was so humiliating!

"Do you mind if I cut in?" he asked as he gave a teasing glance to the broom Elizabeta had been occupied with.

"U-um…"

The broom slipped out of her hands from her nervousness, falling to the floor with a thud.

"I'll take that as a yes," Roderich said through a slight laugh.

At that, he stepped in front of Elizabeta and wrapped one arm around her waist and used the other to place her own hand on his shoulder. The woman gulped nervously as their other hands locked, their fingers lacing together.

"You've danced before, right?" he asked, "You seemed pretty decent with that broom."

Her face reddened as he gave her that teasing look again.

"Not really," she admitted, "I did with Vash one time because he wanted to teach me manners… it didn't work out too well."

"The dancing or the manners? Because you seem to have a knack for the first."

Elizabeta hadn't even realized that he'd started leading her around the room slightly, not even needing music to stay in time. With the realization, she suddenly faltered and managed to step directly on his foot.

"Mr. Edelstein, I'm sorry!" she gasped, "I was about to warn you, I stepped on Vash's feet quite a lot… he couldn't walk for a few days afterwards…"

Roderich, despite wincing at the initial pain, had collected himself and carried on dancing.

"It's quite alright," he assured, "Though I do worry about my feet now."

"I really am sorry about that…"

She trailed off as she was suddenly being twirled, gracefully being pulled back in and pressed against him to be carried around the floor.

"You on the other hand seem rather skilled," Elizabeta commented once she managed to regain some of her confidence.

"We aristocrats need to know these things," he replied dismissively, "It's what makes us so stuffy."

She giggled lightly, earning a smile from him yet again.

"If it's any consolation," she said, "I don't think you're stuffy."

At that, Roderich brought them to a stop, letting her go and bowing politely.

"The song ended," he explained at the sight of her confused look, "Though I'd love to do this again sometime."

He reached out and took her hand, placing a soft kiss on the back of it. Elizabeta blushed madly and curtsied, trying her best not to somehow trip over her own skirts.

"So would I," she breathed, "But now, I… I should go home. Until tomorrow, Mr. Edelstein!"

She frantically rushed to the front door, still in the process of putting her coat on as she went outside.

Roderich smiled slightly to himself and went over to close the piano over its keys.

"Indeed. Until tomorrow, Ms. Héderváry."

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><p><strong>Oh the cuteness! How I love this pairing :D<strong>

**So, to my compete and utter surprise, the nation who was leading my poll was _England _of all the choices. Seriously people? Where is your American pride? (considering most of you are American that is) And since England was the leader, I just had to put America in there since it only makes sense (in my mind at least) I know they seem kind of randomly thrown in there, but everything will come together in time, I promise. And just because America's there does not mean this is going to become USUK (though I shamelessly adore that pairing)**

**So tell me what you think. I hope none of you hate me for disappearing for so long! I love you all and really appreciate the alerts and favorites and reviews! Thank you so much! See ya later~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ha I'm back! Again, my updating his been slack, so I apologize . This chapter is also shorter than the rest which doesn't help out either. I just have so many ideas building up but I have to get farther for them to happen! You know? Anyway, here's the next chapter.**

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><p><em>Come what may,<em>

_Come what may,_

_I will love you_

_Until my dying day_

"Come What May" from _Moulin Rouge!_

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

After their rather intimate encounter the previous day, Elizabeta was nervous about returning to Mr. Edelstein's house. If she didn't know any better she would've guessed that he'd been courting her! But that was absurd seeing as how she was his servant. He was just being… friendly.

Still, she couldn't just run away because she was timid. She owed it to Mr. Edelstein to come back to work, even if he'd possibly fire her after what happened yesterday. A knot formed in her stomach at that thought.

_He wouldn't fire me over something like that… would he?_

She gave the door a gentle knock, wringing her hands together to keep them warm in the bitter winter air.

To her surprise, the door opened much quicker than she thought, little Feliciano standing there and smiling up at her with that typical goofy grin.

"Good morning, Miss Hungary," he greeted cheerfully.

Like with Roderich, the boy had a difficult time saying her name, so he resorted to calling her by the name of the country she came from. It was eerie how close it sounded to "hungry," which happened to be one of the boy's favorite words.

"Good morning, Feliciano," she replied, "Has Mr. Edelstein gotten up yet?"

"Oh, yes! He had his breakfast and is in his office now. I believe he wanted to see you about something."

Elizabeta blinked in surprise. Usually she made her master's breakfast – this was rather unusual. Perhaps he'd just woken up earlier than normal. Besides, it was typical for him to call on her for her daily chores.

She went off to find her instructions, giving Feliciano a gentle pat on his head before doing so.

"I'll be in the kitchen!" he called before scurrying off.

No surprise there, she thought. The boy was so tiny for eating so much food. She wished she could eat that much and not gain any weight.

Upon entering the room, Elizabeta noticed that Mr. Edelstein was standing with his back to her from across the room, looking out the window. Odd. He was usually either at his desk or his piano – sometimes she forgot which was which until music started to flow in the air.

"Good morning, Mr. Edelstein," she greeted with a curtsy, despite the fact he couldn't see her.

He turned around at the sound of her voice, nodding in recognition.

"Good morning, Ms. Héderváry," he replied.

As he turned, Elizabeta noticed that he looked almost flustered; his eyes avoiding hers and his face the lightest shade of pink.

She had no idea why, but she couldn't help but think it was slightly adorable.

"What can I do for you today?" she asked politely, hoping not to worsen his condition somehow.

He continued to look at her for a moment, as if he hadn't heard her, until he finally blinked and shook his head, coming out of his frozen state.

"You reminded me of something yesterday," he said in the most stable voice he could manage, "You reminded me that I'm not the best dancer. Would you mind practicing with me?"

"_Me?"_

Elizabeta was rather surprised. She'd thought that dance had been a onetime thing. And yet, less than twenty-four hours later, he wanted to dance with her again.

"It's you or Feliciano," he explained, "And I think it'd be a tad more natural to dance with a young lady than with a little boy."

"I suppose that makes sense. But I'm not very good myself, Mr. Edelstein."

"That is of no importance. As long as I have a partner, I think I'll be able to handle it."

It seemed as if she didn't really have a choice in the matter. She was technically his servant, so she was to do what he asked of her.

She stepped towards him and placed her hand on his shoulder, straightening her back in an attempt to look him in the eyes. Unfortunately for her, he was taller so that she wound up looking at his throat.

His hand placed itself gently on her waist, his fingers drumming against it as he gathered her other hand with his.

"We don't have any music," Elizabeta said quickly as she felt his fingers against her waist.

"I tend to have music constantly running through my head," he explained, "Though that doesn't help you… I suppose I can just count."

There was no way of getting out of it now. Elizabeta simply sighed and nodded, beginning to move with him as he started counting. It only took ten seconds for her to step on his foot, causing her to gasp and ramble out apologies.

Surprisingly, Roderich had only flinched slightly and carried on with dancing, shaking his head at her apologies and never breaking up his counting.

She managed to step on his feet six more times before she felt like she was used to the movement, her partner never complaining. Still, his relief was apparent when she managed to not step on his feet for several counts.

"You're getting better, two, three," he commented, still unwilling to stop his counting.

"At least I'm not stepping on you anymore," she sighed, "Hopefully your feet aren't too injured."

"I think I'll survive, three, four," he replied teasingly.

Elizabeta blushed and looked away for a moment, hoping he wouldn't notice.

However, when she looked back, she was startled to see that he was looking slightly down to make eye contact with her, his lips no longer moving. She was afraid to look back, but even more afraid to look away.

His eyes held hers and for the first time she noticed that he had the most unusual shade of violet for irises. Framed by his spectacles, they looked quite elegant. Her typical green eyes were nothing in comparison.

They spoke to each other with their eyes, as if it was something people did on a daily basis. The dance carried on, but now there was nothing guiding her except his eyes, those eyes that could see straight through her soul.

He was pulling her closer, close enough so that their chests were almost touching, his face gazing down at hers in a way that could only be described as a picture straight out of a fairytale.

Slowly, their feet stopped moving, though they continued to stay in that dancing position with their arms, looking at each other as if they'd known each other their whole lives.

It was slow, but sudden, something neither of them really saw coming. His lips fell to hers, grazing them ever so softly. She gasped in surprise, causing him to jerk away.

He released her and began brushing himself off as if he'd fallen, his face positively bright with the blood rushing to it.

"I-I-I'm terribly sorry," he managed to spit out, "That w-was completely inappropriate. I d-do hope you forgive me."

Elizabeta was frozen.

_He kissed me… this aristocratic, noble kissed _me, _a peasant…_

"N-No need to apologize," she stammered, "I… I actually didn't mind…"

Needless to say, he was caught off guard. Even so, he had no idea what the horrible repercussions would be for something that seemed so harmless.

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><p><strong>WOO Finally we are progressing in the romance department! Not smut or hardcore or anything, but it's AusxHun so it <em>has <em>to be cute. They just are so adorable!**

**Well I really don't have much tos ay except thank you for all the reviews and favorites and alerts! It means so much! Keep it up and so will I with this whole writing thing!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Dear lord I am sorry you guys. This is like my most alerted fic and I haven't updated it in forever. My deepest apologies Dx I've just had writer's block and have had drama so my mind's been in other places. But that's done now! Here you go, the next chapter!**

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><p><em>Just close your eyes<em>

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

__"Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

Elizabeta couldn't look away from her feet. She'd just been kissed and had no idea what to do now. Roderich was still internally panicking, his face just as red as it had been upon his realization of the action he'd just taken.

It took a moment before either of them could think of a response.

"Miss Héderváry," he said softly.

She looked up at him and saw that he'd managed to compose himself somewhat. Unsure of how to answer, she just looked at him, hoping he'd continue. After a second of psyching himself up, Roderich managed to speak again.

"Despite our separation of class, there is no doubt in my mind that I… I have feelings for you as made apparent by what just occurred. I know it is out of line and I do hope you forgive me."

Elizabeta stared at him a minute longer. This man, this gorgeous, kind, gentleman had just confessed to her. _Her._ It was like a fantasy…

"I feel the same!" she blurted out without thinking.

Roderich's eyes widened as hers did the same, both relatively shocked.

"In that case," he said as he took a breath, "I do hope you will allow me to court you, Miss –"

"Elizabeta," she cut in, "And of course you may."

They exchanged a warm smile, glad that their feelings were no longer kept in the dark. Again acting on impulse, Elizabeta let out a squeal and ran over to him, wrapping her arms around him and planting a kiss on his lips.

Roderich made a sound of surprise but returned the kiss gently, cautiously, wrapping his arms around her in a way that made her think that he was worried of harming her with his embrace.

She merely smiled against the kiss and squeezed him, assuring him that she was strong and didn't mind. Even so, Roderich held her as if she was a feather, not because he was afraid of hurting her, but because of the possibility that if he tried to feel more of her that she'd disappear as a daydream.

* * *

><p>Of all the things she could have asked of Roderich, the first she settled on was horseback riding lessons. She'd ridden a pony when she was little, but she was jealous of all the men who came through town, gallivanting on their beautiful beasts and winking at her in hopes of winning her attention.<p>

In all honesty she was more interested in the creatures they rode then the actual men themselves. They were always so strong, so powerful yet absolutely beautiful. If she could ride one of those lovely animals, she'd be filled with joy.

Roderich owned two horses that resided in a small stable behind the mansion. He tended to ride the bigger of the two, a large, bay gelding he called Prinz. In all honesty, he only had the other horse because he owned a small carriage that required two horses to pull it. Despite hardly using it, he found it and the extra horse necessary.

Though there was still snow on the ground, Roderich agreed to teach Elizabeta how to ride, as long as it was during short periods of time and they stayed away from the snow banks. Elizabeta accepted his terms and quickly went to follow him to the stable.

"Let me see if I can find the sidesaddle for you," Roderich said as he began looking around the tack.

"I don't want to ride sidesaddle," Elizabeta replied, "I want to ride normally. Like you."

Roderich quirked an eyebrow at this, but he complied and retrieved a regular saddle for her. She was an odd one, that was for sure.

Edelweiss. That was the name of the other horse. She was a smaller, dapple-gray mare, but still looked quite large to Elizabeta.

Roderich instructed her on how to properly put on the horse's tack, which Elizabeta did with only minor struggling. Once that was done, he grabbed the mare's reins and led her outside, instructing Elizabeta to follow.

He stopped her once they were on solid dirt and gestured to the horse's back.

"Now you get on," he stated simply.

Elizabeta looked at him wide-eyed. Did he expect her to know what she was doing already? He had to be insane.

Roderich offered her a warm smile before turning and cupping his hands together below the horse's stirrup.

"I'll lift you up," he explained, "Come on now."

She still felt uneasy, but walked over to him, putting her foot in his hands and placing her hands on the horse's back. Edelweiss made a snorting sound and shook her head, causing Elizabeta to tighten up.

"You're fine," Roderich assured, "I'll lift you up on three. One, two, three!"

He raised his hands and pushed her up, allowing her to swing her leg over the other side of the beast and sit square in the saddle.

Elizabeta sat there for a moment, surprised. She was finally on a horse. Those beautiful, powerful creatures she'd admired since she was a child.

A small squeak of happiness escaped her lips, causing Roderich to smile and Edelweiss to snort again.

"Hold on and I'll adjust the stirrups," Roderich said as he began to get to work on fixing them for the length of her legs.

"Meanwhile, you should pet her. Talk to her. You need to trust her."

Elizabeta nodded and reached out to run her hand through the horse's mane. It was funny; it wasn't silky and smooth like she was expected. It was rough and coarse, brittle almost. But it felt good to her fingers, so she continuously tangled them through the long mane.

"Good girl," she murmured, "I've never done this so please go easy on me."

Edelweiss whinnied, as if answering the girl. Roderich patted the mare's neck in response, praising her for being so well-behaved.

"Stirrups should fit now," he said, "Slide your feet in."

Due to her large dress, it was hard for Elizabeta to actually see where her feet were, but she managed to get them in the stirrups somehow.

"Now take the reins in both hands," he instructed.

She did as she was told and gripped the leather between her fingers. With just that motion, she could feel her pulse begin to race, her adrenaline skyrocket. This was what it felt like. She was going to finally be just as strong and powerful as those army men who had looked down on her and dared to attempt and impress her by making her feel inferior.

"Now we're going to take this slow," Roderich said, though Elizabeta could hardly hear him.

All she heard was her heart pounding in her ears, the sound of Edelweiss' even breathing. She let the rush get to her.

With a loud whoop, Elizabeta snapped the reins and kicked the mare's sides, causing the horse to neigh in shock and rear slightly, before bolting off.

"Elizabeta!" Roderich cried horrified.

He watched the blur of gray speed off down the dirt path, toward the village. Elizabeta's hair blew in the wind, as did her dress. He couldn't bear to let her get hurt, so he quickly darted after them.

In the meantime, Elizabeta was having the time of her life. The wind blowing in her face, the steady rhythm of the horse's feet beneath her gave her such a feeling of freedom, of independence. She could do anything; she could fly.

Edelweiss suddenly came upon a sharp turn and attempted to make it, skidding slightly in the process. The unexpected jolt rooted Elizabeta from the saddle and flung her into the snow bank face first.

"_Elizabeta!"_

Roderich managed to reach Elizabeta about a minute after he'd seen her thrown, panting and gasping for air. He ran into the snow bank and grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her over so he could look at her. She had a few scrapes but nothing looked too severe.

"Elizabeta," he breathed, "Elizabeta, are you alright?"

He shook her gently, relieved to see her eyes flutter open. He was less relieved to hear her response.

"Let's do that again!"

* * *

><p>Despite his several attempts to get rid of the bloody Yankee, Arthur had somehow managed to keep Alfred following him. The American had that damn optimistic spirit and wouldn't shut up about how he'd show Arthur all the best places around.<p>

Currently, the two were walking through some busy street in the city, Alfred blabbing away about all the sights while Arthur just wanted to find somewhere to eat.

"Austria's got some of the best food in the world," Alfred was saying, "Not as good as my mom's but pretty damn close."

"Your mother must be a world-renowned chef," Arthur grumbled.

"She always wanted to be one. If she was alive I bet she'd _still _be forcing me to try all her new recipes."

Arthur paused a moment and looked back at his counterpart. So the boy's mother was dead. Yet he still seemed so cheery even when discussing the subject.

"When did your mother die?" Arthur asked.

Alfred's face fell a bit at that as he remembered his mother.

"I was fourteen," he answered, "She got really sick and just couldn't pull through. Pa was really upset about it… Said he regretted not being able to make her happier. But that's stupid because she told me when she was on her deathbed how happy she was that she could see me and Pa and how much she loved us."

Arthur remained silent. He didn't usually get into deep conversations with people, let alone a subject so sensitive.

"Pa got really depressed after that," Alfred continued, "Told me he wanted me to do everything I wanted before I died. So when I told him I wanted to come here he saved up every last penny and shipped me over here. I'm gonna go home and visit him soon, maybe even bring him back here. He'd love it."

The teen looked up at the sky and smiled, despite their being no sunshine and only gray clouds. It didn't matter. Behind the clouds there was the sun. That was fact. It would never disappear.

"But that's enough about me," he said with a shake of his head, "What about you, Artie? What's your family like? Brothers and sisters? Parents? Any weird relatives or stories from when you were a kid? Doesn't have to be all tragic like mine, I mean we're here in Europe to have fun and do new things right? So let's hear all the good stuff."

Arthur despised the nickname the American had bestowed upon him and always corrected him before replying. Yet after that speech about his mother and all that damn optimism, Arthur couldn't help but smile a little. If he didn't watch out he might actually start to like the kid.

"My family?" he sighed, "Living with my siblings… it was hell."

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><p><strong>Look at that, Artie and Alfie are back xD YAY. God I love them too much. Also, that last line was a reference to how England's siblins (Scotland, Ireland, Wales, etc.) all drove him insane and he tended to not get along with him.<strong>

**And now we have AusxHun cuteness. Awwww that's just so sweet. I love this pairing to death and had to throw fluff in there. Of course, Hungary is still Hungary and therefore a tomboy, daring and kind of an airhead so of course she'd speed off on a horse for the first time riding one. And look at Austria all worried. D'aw. **

**Well that's it for now. Please leave a review, alert, or favorite the story, it means a lot! See you later!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Holy crap has it been forever since this updated. GAH. I'm sorry, I have just been stuck on all my fics and I only recently got some inspiration. This chapter is kind of short compared to the other but I just wanted to get something out so bad because I felt horrible for making you all wait. So for now, I hope this will suffice.**

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><p><em>Lights will guide you home,<em>

_And ignite your bones,_

_And I will try to fix you._

"Fix You" by _Coldplay_

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

After her first few lessons, Elizabeta could ride Edelweiss without falling off once. Roderich hadn't wanted to give her any more lessons after her fall, but she'd insisted and he couldn't say no to those big green orbs that pleaded at him.

Despite their relationship, Elizabeta still did all the chores in the house with Feliciano, though she didn't spend all day doing them. Once she was finished she would listen to Roderich play the piano for a while, steal some affection from him and then go out to ride Edelweiss.

The horse had started to grow fond of Elizabeta and always whinnied a greeting at her whenever she came into the stable. It made Elizabeta think that she was always asking for a treat, but she relented… most of the time.

She could hear him now, playing the piano, letting the melody glide through the house. It felt as if he was calling her, asking her to join him.

Of course, she couldn't refuse and found her way to the music room, her mind floating off into its own world.

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><p>Gilbert still couldn't understand why Lizzie seemed to spend so much time at that stuffy aristocrat's place. She'd told him that she was working there now, but it seemed as though she never went home or anything.<p>

He noticed she'd been avoiding him more than usual as well. In the past she got so annoyed and couldn't help but pay attention to him when he pestered her. Now she would just shoo him away and get this stupid look on her face as she kept walking.

So now it was his job to find out why his Lizzie was acting so weird. With his awesome skills he would cure whatever ailed her and make her back into the girl he knew and loved – er, remembered. Not loved. He was too awesome for love.

As he walked down that lonely path late at night to that snob's house, he could make out a figure ahead of him that seemed to be walking towards him.

"Oi!" Prussia called, "Is that you, Lizzie?"

He could hear the annoyed groan despite how far they still were. He let a smirk run across his face as he jogged over to her, noting she was already avoiding eye contact.

"What are you doing here, Gilbert?" she sighed.

"Looking for you of course," he said in hopes of being smooth, "You spend all your time with this prissy snob. What gives?"

"I work for him. It's the debt I pay for _your _stupid idea of getting in."

"That was so long ago! Why hasn't he let you off the hook? Seriously, it's ridiculous."

She fidgeted when he asked this, looking anywhere but at him. Gilbert raised a brow suspiciously. Was the guy holding her against her will?

He glanced and noticed some kind of a mark on her neck, almost like a bruise. Was he abusing her as well?

As he was about to question her, another figure appeared from behind Lizzie, one that didn't look that happy. Something dangled from its hand, though Gilbert wasn't sure what it was.

"Elizabeta," the figure said as it approached, "You forgot your scarf."

Ugh, it was that stupid girly-man.

"Oh," Elizabeta said startled, "Thank you, Roderich."

Gilbert furrowed his brows. She was his servant, yet they were on a first name basis. And why was he wrapping the scarf around her neck for her? She could do it herself.

Perhaps he was trying to look innocent. Pretend he didn't hurt Lizzie.

"Leave her alone," he snapped, "She can handle herself."

Roderich looked at the other confused while Elizabeta became red.

"I was merely being polite," Roderich explained, "And I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Gilbert Beilschmidt, a name you better remember. Lizzie's my best friend and you better not be making her do anything she doesn't want to."

"Don't call me that," Elizabeta groaned, "And Roderich's nothing but kind to me."

Gilbert wrinkled his nose and looked at the man again. He just radiated that snobby attitude Gilbert couldn't stand. He was dressed so fancy, like he was better than the rest of the people in the village. What a douche.

"I would never allow any kind of harm come to Elizabeta," Roderich said, his eyes hard.

"Better not," Gilbert spat, "Or you'll be hearing from me."

At that, he decided to make his grand departure. He grabbed Elizabeta by the wrist and started to head back to the village. To his surprise, she was yanked back, but not because she chose to.

That prissy little snob had grabbed her and pulled her back, a look of some sort of possession and anger in his eyes.

"She can walk alone," he said, "Right?"

Gilbert's lip curled but he said nothing as he turned around and walked back toward the village.

There was definitely something wrong with that guy. He had this look in his eyes when he grabbed Elizabeta, like he owned her. If he thought that he could own Elizabeta, he had another thing coming.

For one, Lizzie would never let that happen. The girl was as stubborn and independent as she was beautiful. Well, she's not _that_ beautiful. She's just a girl.

Secondly, Gilbert would never let that happen. Even if Elizabeta didn't believe it, Gilbert still cared about her and wanted to protect her. No snotty aristocrat was going to change that. Just because he tried to seem refined and polite didn't mean he was.

The bruise on Lizzie's neck, the way they talked to each other, how he acted… it was all too strange. Maybe not now, but Gilbert would soon find out what exactly was going on.

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><p><strong>Dun dun dun it is finally the end of a new chapter. Thank the lord, I felt like I'd never get this thing updated. I know it was short, but there are some important things in there I hope you all noticed! Things will start to get intense soon so best prepare yourselves because I will (hopefully) update this soon!<strong>

**Please favorite, follow or review this story if you enjoyed it, all your support means so much to me and gives me the drive to keep going. Thank you~ Until next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay I'm back! Gosh I feel like it's been a long time since I've updated. Well, it has been because I usually like to update after my fic gets a couple reviews on its most recent chapter. But, the thing is, I only got like one or two for the last chapter of this. Which is really weird because a lot of you are favoriting it and following it, but not saying anything about it. I don't understand is all I guess. Well, whatever. Here ya go!**

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><p><em>Stop and stare<em>

_I think I'm moving but I don't know where_

_Yeah I know that everyone gets scared_

_But I've become what I can't be_

"Stop and Stare" by _OneRepublic_

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

As Gilbert struggled to figure out what was going on with Elizabeta and the snobby guy who seemed to be holding her hostage, a man in a village several miles away was struggling to merely stay alive.

He hid in the shadows, knowing that if he was seen he would likely be captured. The darkness was the only place he could stay safe, stay _alive._

A selfless man, he only strove to stay alive for his wife and child, not for his personal benefit. Without him, his wife and baby would only be put in more danger than they had all landed themselves in.

The man thought of them for a moment, a smile almost creeping to his face. He'd left them in an abandoned shop a few blocks away, making sure that no one would possibly go inside before leaving. It killed him to leave them alone, but he had to in order to keep them alive. Searching for food was easier alone; he wouldn't have to worry about his family getting lost or taken from him.

Now he stayed very still, watching the few people hurriedly walk by him to escape the bitter cold. Despite his tattered clothes, he stayed composed, refusing to let the winter rack his bones and make him appear weak.

Once he assumed the moment safe, he began to walk amongst the shadows, glancing at the few stands still open. Those still brave enough to sell their food were wrapped in heavy blankets, not even really looking at their food.

The man managed to sneak a loaf of bread and a few apples without the vendors noticing. Satisfied, he slowly began to make his way back to his child and darling wife.

At least they'd make it a few more days.

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><p>It was late and Elizabeta was dreading having to return to her home. She'd grown so used to being with Roderich and Feliciano that this manor seemed more like a home than the shack she shared with Vash and Lilli. She still cared for the two siblings dearly, but she just felt more like a family here with her love and the boy she practically considered her son.<p>

Currently she was sitting on the Austrian's lap as he lounged on the sofa, mindlessly playing with her long locks of hair.

"It's getting late, dear," she sighed.

Roderich shook his head and pretended as if he didn't hear her.

"Are you cold," he asked, "I could get the blanket."

She smiled at his attempt and craned her neck to plant a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"I need to go," she said softly, "You and I both know that."

"Stay… a little longer."

It really hurt Elizabeta to see him look so sad, even though he knew that they could see each other in the morning. A few hours wouldn't do much harm.

"Please, Beta," he murmured.

Her heart fluttered at the pet name he'd given her and she couldn't help but give him a peck on the cheek. He really was the sweetest thing and the thought of going away, even for just a short amount of time, didn't sound the least bit appealing.

"Just a few more minutes," she finally said.

He appeared content with this answer as he pulled her down on top of him, causing her to make a disgruntled noise of surprise. She began to ask what he was doing when he placed his lips over hers, in a way of making her shut up that she didn't really mind.

The room was quiet, the soft breathing of the lovers and their occasional movement barely audible.

Feliciano had gone to sleep so they didn't have to worry about him stumbling upon this rather mature scene.

There was a moment when Elizabeta thought he was going to take her then and there. Her heart races, her breathing quickened and she blinked rapidly a few times. The thought of Roderich, this man she loved, devoting himself completely to her, made her heart melt.

She made an unusual gasping sound, as if she hadn't been breathing and had only just found access to air. Only a second later, there was a thump outside, causing the lovers to pause.

"What was that?" Elizabeta asked as she tried to catch her breath.

Roderich pushed himself up to his elbows and glanced at the direction the sound had come from. The window was closed with the curtains open, allowing him to see outside. There didn't seem to be anything particularly strange.

"Probably just an animal," he suggested, "Or snow falling off one of the trees. Spring is on its way."

Elizabeta flushed at the mention of springtime, the season of romance. Though he was right, it was only mid January but Roderich often liked to speak of spring; it seemed to be his favorite season.

He claimed it was the time when he was most relaxed and could focus the best on his music. The light weather made him feel less stuffy, as if he was free to do as he pleased. Of course he never could, being an aristocrat and all, but Elizabeta liked to imagine him running around and laughing. She always loved it when he smiled and laughed.

"I really need to go now, Roderich," she said as she stood from the couch, stretching her arms above his head, "Vash is going to worry about me."

Roderich pushed up his glasses as he got up as well, placing his hand on her head to stroke her hair gently.

"I suppose," he admitted, "Though I will miss you."

Their hands laced together as he led her to the front door, where they took their precious time in exchanging goodbyes. After saying goodnight several times each, Elizabeta managed to sneak a kiss and head down the path to where Vash was probably getting ready to send out a search party for her.

"_Auf wiedersehen, libeling," _he called out to her in German, making her blush.

"_Búcsú, szerelem," _she replied in her own native tongue.

As she returned home, she couldn't help but wonder if it was really possible to be this much in love.

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><p>"Artie! Get over here, this is delicious!"<p>

The Brit gave an irritated sigh as he heard the American's familiar voice cry out from somewhere. He had been looking in the window of a bookstore, curious if there was anything that caught his attention. Alfred must have gotten bored and wandered off since he was now yelling something at him.

"What is it, you git?" Arthur sighed as he turned his head to see Alfred running over, two ice cream cones in his hands.

The American thrust one forward, licking the other one contentedly.

"These are great!" he cried, "Not as good as back home, but the best I've had over the Atlantic!"

Arthur wrinkled his nose as the cone was shoved in his face. It appeared to be vanilla, a flavor he didn't particularly despise. The idiot must have spent money on it as well, so it'd be rude not to eat it.

Alfred watched with anticipation as the elder man licked the ice cream, an obnoxious laugh ripping through his throat as the man's eyes lit up.

"What's so funny?" Arthur demanded.

"Your _face!" _Alfred yelled through his laughter, "It looked so happy but goofy!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and took another lick of the dessert. It was actually pretty good; better than anything he'd had back home. Perhaps these Germans knew what they were doing with the desserts. He'd been told the Austrians were even better, but that was hard to believe after tasting this most delicious German ice cream cone.

"Where'd you even get these?" Arthur asked once his companion had calmed down.

"A little shop down the street," the younger replied, "I've had them before and I knew that you'd love it. I was obviously right."

"Well, thank you."

Alfred stared for a moment with big eyes, Arthur continuing to consume his dessert until he couldn't handle the staring any longer.

"What the bloody hell are you looking at?"

For a moment, Alfred didn't respond. He continued to stare for a while, as if in a trance. Eventually he snapped out of it and shook his head, that ridiculous grin coming up to light his face again.

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Artie!" he answered.

Arthur raised his brows as Alfred rubbed the back of his neck, that stupid grin only looking more stupid.

"Well don't get used to it," the Brit snapped, "Now come on, I thought I saw a book in there that I wanted."

He began to walk into the store, not bothering to wait for Alfred. So what if thanked the man? It was only manners. It wasn't like he cared.

Alfred waited a moment, thinking about what Arthur had just said. It only took a moment for him to snap out of it and run after the other.

"Wait up, I wanna see!"

* * *

><p>Elizabeta was right – Vash <em>had <em>been worried sick about her. He lectured her about how it was dangerous to stay out that late and that the darker it was the more likely she could get lost and how it was rude that Roderich didn't even walk her home.

She didn't really listen, but gave him the appropriate responses when she needed to. In all honesty, she was too busy thinking of all that time she'd just spent with Roderich. It had been so romantic and wonderful. All she wanted to do was see him again.

Neither had confessed their love, but Elizabeta convinced herself that she would tell him first thing tomorrow. It didn't matter that he was an aristocrat and she was some lowly peasant. They could run away together to a place where social stature didn't matter and be happy together and never have to worry about anything but themselves.

Vash had gone on with his lecture, mentioning how Gilbert had stopped by and asked if she was alright and how he thought Roderich seemed suspicious. Elizabeta assured him that Gilbert was just overreacting and being the drama king he always was. There was nothing to worry about; Roderich was a good boss to her. At least, that's what she told Vash.

She went to bed that night thinking about Roderich only more. She'd never been in love and now here she was, falling so hard and so fast she didn't know if she could handle it. But Roderich was good to her and sweet; he'd never do anything to hurt her. When he'd said that to Gilbert, she knew he'd meant it. In all honesty, Roderich probably couldn't hurt a fly. The man didn't seem to have a mean bone in his body.

The sheets seemed thinner than normal as she pulled them tighter around her body. Perhaps it was because she didn't have Roderich's body warmth like she did earlier. Either way, she felt colder and she wasn't exactly fond of it. Tomorrow she would cuddle with him on the sofa again and get lost in his strong arms. His warmth would make all this snow melt away.

Her mind slipped into subconscious, rewarding her with visions of Roderich and Feliciano and Vash and Lilli and everything else she held so dear. It was all so perfect, it couldn't be real.

With a jolt, Elizabeta was torn from her slumber, making her realize that the dream was in fact too good to be real.

"Elizabeta!"

It was Vash and he sounded like there was a huge problem.

"Vash?" she yawned, "I'm sleeping! Where's the fire?"

"At Roderich's!" he yelled.

It took her a moment to open her eyes and see the worry in Vash's face. Something was wrong. He never called Roderich by his first name – he said it was because he didn't know the man well enough to go on a first name basis.

"What?" she breathed, now more awake.

"There's a fire!" he repeated, "And it's engulfing Roderich's house as we speak!"

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><p><strong>Dun dun DUN! There's the ending! SO MUCH SUSPENSE RIGHT? Who are the people at the beginning? What's with this fire? Is Lizzie really in love? Where the hell is Gilbert? Well those questions shall all be answered... in the future!<strong>

**As long as you guys review and favorite and follow it gives me the drive to keep going. But yeah, reviews are most helpful because I really appreciate your feedback! Either waym thank you so much for supporting me! See you at the next update~**


	8. Chapter 8

**Holy crap you guys. I say no one reviews one chapter and I get like TEN for the next one. You guys rock, I love reviews. Sorry this took longer than I hoped, I just didn't have time to write it really. The idea's there, but putting it all together was the hard part. Who am I kidding, I left you on a cliffhanger so none of you are reading this, you just want to know what happens. I can't say I blame you, I'm that way too! Fine xD Carry on!**

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><p><em>Take me away from time and season<em>

_Far far away we'll sing with reason_

_Prepare a throne of stars above me_

_As the world once known will leave me_

"Take Me Away" by _Globus_

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

There was no way Elizabeta could even think of wasting time as she leapt out of the bed and began to run for the door.

_He's in danger, _she thought. _This can't be happening._

"Hey, get back here!" Vash called as she darted out of the house.

She didn't care that she was only in her nightgown and that it was rather indecent of her to go out in public wearing such a thing. All that mattered was that Roderich's life was in danger and she had to save him.

Vash was still yelling at her, attempting to follow her before realizing that he couldn't leave Lilli alone. Elizabeta could hear him yell something about Lilli, but she paid no mind and kept on running.

There was a mix of hoof prints and footprints in the snow and dirt that led down the path to Roderich's home. Elizabeta gulped nervously, picking up her pace.

No one besides herself ever came down the path; the locals didn't like Roderich and therefore never visited him. But now, with all these marks, it looks like he had become popular in quite a hurry. What on earth was going on?

After what felt like hours, Elizabeta managed to stumble into view of the manor, only to gasp in horror.

Vash had been right. Roderich's manor was completely ablaze, the angry flames licking at every inch of the wood until it could only go up into the black sky.

Circling the front of the home were several angry men she recognized from the village, mostly with torches or some other kind of device that had lit the house up in this horrible light. Some of the men were on horseback, throwing what looked like rocks and other objects into the second story windows. All of them were crying out victoriously, yelling and swearing at Roderich.

It took Elizabeta a moment to process it all. She now knew this fire was no accident – the villagers were enjoying this arson. But _why? _It didn't make sense. Sure, none of them really liked Roderich because he was an aristocrat and therefore different, but he'd never hurt anyone.

"Keep it up men! People like him don't belong here!"

Elizabeta's blood ran cold. That voice. She knew that voice. And she'd never felt so betrayed.

"_Gilbert!" _she shrieked.

The man in question turned his head, remaining in his seat atop a large white horse. His cocky demeanor faded at the sight of her, his grip tightening on the reins.

"Oi, what're you doing here?" he demanded.

He'd only begun to dismount his horse when Elizabeta yanked him down, shoving him to the side angrily.

"What are you _doing?" _she wailed, "You _bastard!"_

She began throwing punches at him, the first of which were successful, until he grabbed her wrists and looked her directly in the eye. Something in those rubies of his was different; it wasn't his normal arrogant self. No, something was burning, something dark.

"He doesn't deserve you!" he spat.

Elizabeta just stared at him. What the hell was he talking about? For all he knew, she was just Roderich's servant. It was Gilbert's fault in the first place!

"What are you talking about?" she cried, "Stop it! Let me go!"

"I saw you together!" he barked.

At this, she grew silent. His eyes were becoming watery and this horrible feeling almost like quilt formed in the center of her heart. She knew he'd been pursuing her, he had for a long time. But she thought it'd only been for fun.

"The two of you," he continued, "Were… you betrayed me! You were supposed to be with me, Lizzie!"

"Stop it!" she shrieked as his grip tightened around her wrists.

The fire roared ferociously as the men continued to throw things in the house, swearing about equality and how the rich shouldn't be poking their noses around the poor.

Roderich and Feliciano were in there, most likely taking their final breaths. She had to do something now.

"You can't go setting people's houses on fire because you're jealous, Gil! They're dying!"

He didn't seem to register what she said and only gripped her tighter.

"I won't let him take you from me!"

Elizabeta had enough. With all her might, she thrust her knee up and into Gilbert's crotch, causing the man to let out a howl of pain before collapsing to the ground.

Now free of her binds, she sprinted past the angry men, darted up the steps and burst into the quickly deteriorating house. She was instantly met with flashes of orange and red and a wall of smoke attempting to make its way into her lungs.

"Roderich!" she cried out between coughs, "Feli!"

Everything was just heat and black and painful. She stumbled toward what used to be the kitchen, hoping to have gotten closer to finding them.

"Feli! Roderich! Where are you?"

"Miss Hungary?"

At the familiar voice, Hungary turned around and could see the little boy huddled against a wall, his hands over his head in an attempt to protect himself. She darted to his side and clung to him, her heart breaking at the sound of his pathetic sobs.

"It's so… hot," he coughed.

"I know," she managed to hack out, "Where's… Mr. Austria?"

"Music… room," Feliciano choked.

Elizabeta shushed him in hopes that he wouldn't breathe in as much smoke. She carefully began walking to the other side of the room, only to hear a deafening crash as some of the ceiling slammed to the floor behind him.

Feliciano screamed as Elizabeta stumbled forward in surprise, squinting her eyes now that the smoke was beginning to make them burn. She now found herself disoriented, not sure which way she'd been going. The fire made everything look like a dead mess, unable to discern one mass of ash from another.

She was about to collapse to the ground and cry when something grabbed at her skirt, making her yelp and whirl around. To her surprise, a hunched over Roderich had managed to hear her and desperately attempted to reach her, luckily finding the fabric of her skirt.

"Roderich!" she coughed.

He immediately reached out and covered her mouth with some kind of fabric; most likely a handkerchief. She knew it was to keep her from breathing the smoke, but she just wanted to speak to him.

"Come on," he hacked as he grabbed her hand.

She shifted Feliciano in her arms so that she could hold the handkerchief properly, only now realizing that he'd had one as well this whole time. Roderich carefully maneuvered them towards what Elizabeta thought was the back of the house.

Debris constantly fell, making Feliciano cry and Roderich quicken his pace, until finally he managed to find the back door. Like the rest of the home, it was lit up in angry fire, so Roderich quickly lifted up his leg to kick it. It wouldn't budge.

Another heavy crashing sound came from inside the home. It was going to collapse any minute, they all knew it. Roderich kicked at the door again, though to no avail. Frustrated, he cried out as he kicked it one more time, finally ripping it off its hinges so that the three of them could fall into the snow outside.

Elizabeta coughed violently as Feliciano attempted to stop crying, but Roderich brought them to their feet.

"To the horses," he instructed.

Luckily, the stable had yet to catch on fire since it was a fair distance from the manor, but the horses were in a mass panic from all the noise outside.

Roderich helped Elizabeta and Feliciano onto Edelweiss, the two still coughing the smoke out of their lungs.

"Go," he said, "I'll catch up."

Before Elizabeta could protest, Roderich had slapped the mare on her hindquarters, causing her to dart off into the forest, away from the flames and the violent men. It took her awhile, but Elizabeta managed to bring the mare to a halt. She had to make sure Roderich was ok.

She stared back at where she'd just come from, waiting for him to come. But he didn't. He should've been right behind them. Edelweiss had left her hoof prints for him to follow. There was no way he couldn't find them.

Tears welled in her eyes as she clung to Feliciano. This wasn't happening, it couldn't be. She bowed her head and began to weep. Why? Gilbert didn't need to do this. He should've talked to her. Or better yet, she shouldn't have fallen in love with Roderich.

In love. Had she really fallen for him? She wasn't sure, but now she didn't think she'd ever know because he wouldn't come back.

As she was about to give up everything, the sound of a horse's hooves thudding through the snow became audible, and she lifted her head to see Prinz heading towards them, an exhausted Roderich on his back.

Once he brought the gelding to a halt, Elizabeta practically leapt off of Edelweiss to hug Roderich, crying and apologizing and not really knowing what she was saying.

"It's alright," he said weakly, "Don't worry. I have an old home I lived in before I came here, remember? I will take Feliciano and I there."

She looked up into his eyes, her own red and puffy.

"And me?" she asked.

"You're safe here," he explained, "They lit my house on fire because they want _me _gone, not you. We'll leave and appease them, but I want you safe."

"But, that's not fair… I want to be with you."

He frowned as more tears began to fall from her emerald eyes.

"I want to be with you, too," he said, "But…"

"I love you!" she blurted.

He paused and stared at her for a long time. She stared back, sniffling and coughing ever so slightly. Finally, he laid a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Alright," he sighed, "We have a long way to go."

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><p><strong>Oh my god guys, that was intense :o I had all this planned out, but after I read it I was like "Damn, my feels!" Also, the song lyrics at the beginning are from the song I was listening to while writing this chapter so if you wanna give that a listen, you should! <em>Globus <em>is awesome and have some songs associated with Hetalia already so you might've heard of them.**

**Well now there's some questions answered. I know this chapter was completely focused on Austria and Hungary, but the others have not been forgotten! The mystery man from last chapter will return and so will our beloved American and Brit. **

**I think that's all for now, though so please leave a review because you know how much I love it! Or favorite or follow or whatever to let me know what you thought~ See you soon guys!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys I'm alive! Sorry for the long delay again, I couldn't decide where I wanted to take this fic next so it took a while for me to settle on something I liked. It's kind of important, but nothing super exciting - I mean no house's burning or anything. This will all come to play later in the fic so I promise it makes sense, at least it does in my head! That always seems to be how it works out in the end. Anyway, there's two parts to this chapter, one might seem useless but I promise it's not a filler. Trust me on this guys, I hate fillers and I wouldn't want to make you endure them.**

**I wanted to get this about before the holidays and I actually managed to! Yay me! So I hope you enjoy this early Christmas present~**

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><p><em>"You've got a warm heart<em>

_You've got a beautiful brain_

_But it's disintegrating _

_From all the medicine."_

_- Medicine _by Daughter.

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

Vash tended to get along with almost everyone he met. He was very peaceful and neutral towards others, never trying to make them too happy or too upset. There were few people who ever tipped his balance of neutrality.

Roderich was one of those people.

Elizabeta was never able to figure out exactly why. The men had only met a few times, always briefly. But something about Roderich rubbed Vash the wrong way. There was always a weird tension between the two that often resulted in awkward silence until Elizabeta butted in.

Considering that the girl who was practically a sister to him wanted to run off with this one man he couldn't tolerate, things weren't likely to unfold well.

"No!" Vash called, "Absolutely _not!"_

Elizabeta ignored him as she rummaged through her drawers, looking for the bag she'd kept her savings in. She had no idea how long they'd be on the road, so they'd need all the money they could get.

Lilli, who'd been sleeping peacefully, sat up and yawned, looking around to figure out what all the commotion was about. She expected to see Elizabeta in her bed on the opposite side of the room, but instead saw her scrounging in the nightstand.

"I tried to convince her to stay," Roderich sighed, "But she's' adamant."

"Well you didn't try very hard!" Vash retorted.

The two men were out on the porch, Vash's shotgun in his hand after hearing word that lunatics were setting Roderich's house ablaze. No one was going to do that to his house, not on his watch.

Roderich was trying to calmly explain everything that had happened, but Vash didn't want to hear any of it. He'd already brought the barrel of the gun close to Roderich more than once, and the latter certainly didn't want to risk having his brains blown out.

"Eliza?" Lilli asked nervously, "What's going on?"

At the sound of the girl's voice, Elizabeta stopped her search and went over to comfort her. She ran her fingers through the girl's golden locks, shushing her softly.

"Nothing, sweetheart," she murmured, "Go back to sleep. I need to go away for a little while is all."

"Go away?"

Lilli's bright green eyes grew even bigger, making Elizabeta's heart ache.

"Just for a little while," she said quickly, "I'll come back and visit. You be good for your big brother."

The little one nodded as Elizabeta got back up and finally found her bag with her earnings in it. The girls exchanged a quick farewell and Elizabeta quickly darted to the front of the house.

She was met with Vash's back blocking the front door, gripping his shotgun tightly and making no suggestions that he was going to move anytime soon.

"Vash, please move," she groaned, "I don't have time for this."

"Elizabeta, you're not leaving this house," he answered firmly.

Roderich attempted to peak over Vash in order to catch sight of Elizabeta, trying to see if she was actually there.

"Vash, I'm not a kid!" she cried, "Now get out of the way!"

At that, Vash whipped around to face her, his face showing more emotion than Elizabeta had ever seen.

"I promised your parents I'd take care of you!" he snapped, "I'm not letting you run off with some man you don't even know!"

She went quiet, not really knowing what to say. It was true; before her parents died they had asked Vash if his family could take her in, as the two families had been close for years. He'd accepted without hesitation and promised to personally watch over Elizabeta.

And now, she wanted to leave.

Roderich had gone quiet as well. Clearly the two had some kind of past that he didn't know of and it would be wrong for him to intrude. He'd just have to wait and see what they were going to do.

Elizabeta bit her lip and looked up at Vash.

"I love him," she finally said, "And he and I can take care of each other now. You don't have to anymore… Lilli is your priority; I know how much you love her. I promise I'll be okay."

He stared at her for a long time. The memories of them growing up together, him taking care of her, being a brother to her, all of them flashed before him. She really wasn't the little girl he took care of anymore; she'd become a beautiful woman. Yes, she wanted to run away with a douche, but she knew how to take care of herself. She could handle anything. He helped raise her that way.

There was a long moment of silence before Vash stepped aside and tilted his gun out the door.

"Get out of here," he muttered, "This little village was never your thing anyway."

Elizabeta's face lit up and she leapt out and threw her arms around Vash, squeezing him tightly. The man flinched I surprise, but eventually returned the embrace.

"I promise I'll write," she said, "And visit as much as I can."

"Okay, now go on, I don't do emotional stuff," he muttered.

She laughed and kissed him on the cheek, running down the porch to the horses where Feliciano still waited. She'd grabbed a few blankets and quickly wrapped him up in one, earning many thanks and Italian phrases she couldn't understand.

Vash turned to look at Roderich, who had remained silent the whole time until now, as he cleared his throat.

"I promise I'll take care of her," he said earnestly, "I love her dearly and would never let anything happen to her."

He offered his hand, Vash wrinkling his nose. This stuffy aristocrat always bothered him, but he seemed to make Elizabeta happy.

Reluctantly, Vash reached out and returned the handshake.

"You better," he threatened.

Roderich laughed weakly in hopes of lightening the mood, only to realize that Vash was completely serious. He quickly stopped and gave the man a quick bow before following Elizabeta and returning to the horses.

Vash watched for a few moments, thinking about what was going to happen to them. After a while he went back inside, closing the door and shaking his head.

* * *

><p>"Idiots…"<p>

"Oh man, Artie, you're gonna love it in America!"

Arthur just nodded and continued to read the newspaper, not really paying attention to whatever the bloody American was going on about.

Recently, Alfred had decided he would take Arthur to visit his home in America after the Brit had mentioned he'd never been overseas.

Of course, that sent Alfred off on a wild rant about how great America was, and the wonder of the red, white and blue (even though were also the colors of the UK, that git) and several other completely idiotic things.

Suddenly, Alfred stopped speaking midsentence and thought for a moment. He then continued to speak, but on a completely new topic.

"Hey, Artie," he said, "You never told me if you got a gal back home."

Arthur choked on what appeared to be air at the question, finally looking up from his newspaper. Alfred merely looked at him curiously, those blue eyes sparkling.

"You never asked, you moron," he spat.

"Well I am now," Alfred pointed out, "You got a little lady back home?"

Arthur contemplated on how to respond. He'd known the lad for a while now, so it wasn't like it was unusual to have the question asked. Still, Arthur didn't like talking about his personal life in detail, or at all for that matter.

"No I don't," he answered curtly.

"Oh," Alfred said.

There was a moment of silence where Alfred looked down and Arthur grew increasingly annoyed.

"Why'd you ask, you fool?" he snapped.

Alfred looked up surprised, then turned red and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh, ah, just wondering is all," he answered, "Figured a guy like you would've… you know."

Arthur cocked a brow. What was the lad trying to get at?

"No, I don't know I'm afraid. Could you clarify?"

"Just figured you'd have a gal is all."

Alfred now seemed completely embarrassed, much to the Brit's delight. Normally the yank wouldn't shut up or stop annoying him, so it was nice to see the tables turned.

"Why, do you?" Arthur asked teasingly.

"No!" Alfred cried with a red face.

Arthur wanted to laugh so badly, but he had to keep it in. The boy was still pretty young and probably hadn't had much experience in the field yet. Perhaps he had wanted advice. Sadly, the field of women wasn't something Arthur was particularly experienced or interested in for that matter.

"Chin up, lad," Arthur said, "I'm sure there's some girl back there who has her eyes on you."

Alfred hid his face in his hands and mumbled something Arthur couldn't quite make out. It was quite a scene.

At this point, the Brit couldn't help but laugh.

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><p><strong>Let the feels commence. Muahahahaha xD Well that last part might have seemed kind of unnecessary, but it <em>will <em>come into play later (some of you might already be able to see how) I adore the two of them and when Alfred gets all embarrassed I just can't help myself. That's just me.**

**So, my apologies if Swissy seems kind of OOC here. I wanted there to be a legitimate reason for him not wanting Hungary to leave, not just because he hates Austria. I always saw that whole area (Germany, Swiss, Austria, Hungary) as like a big family so I can see Switzerland and Hungary being pretty close. Again, that's just me.**

**The mysterious man who we heard about in chapter seven should be making an appearance fairly soon to those of you who want to know who that is. I've had a few guesses but I don't think any were right yet.**

**ALSO, I don't know if I've mentioned it or made it clear, but this story is _not _set in the present day (hence the horses and no cars and the general use of the word "courting") Actually, this is set around 1912 or so, at least somewhere in the beginning of the twentieth century. That's also a foreshadow as to what may happen in the future _hint hint wink wink nudge nudge._**

**So I think I'm done for now. If I don't see you guys for a while, enjoy your holidays and I will most likely see you in the new year! Remember to leave a review as feedback always helps, or just follow or favorite. Thanks!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Yay an update~ It hasn't been _too _long, at least I don't think. Hey I mean at least we're progressing, right? Sorry though, over break I was kind of busy and there was a convention and yeah. But I hope you aren't too mad at me. Well I don't have too much to say here except that I hope you enjoy!**

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><p><em>I'm in love with a fairytale<em>

_Even though it hurts_

_'Cause I don't care if I lose my mind_

_I'm already cursed_

- "Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

"Tired," Feliciano moaned.

Elizabeta looked down at the child in her arms, trying to get comfortable while on horseback. The boy was notorious for always being sleepy or hungry or both, but it seemed now the reason was legitimate.

They'd been riding for hours along the many roads that wound through the German countryside, following any signs that might point them in the right direction.

Roderich had informed her that his former home was past the border of Austria-Hungary, somewhere in Vienna. Once they found a city and a hotel to stay in, he promised they'd rest and then board a train to his home.

To be honest, Elizabeta wouldn't mind staying in a small town, but so far they had hardly come across anything close to civilization.

"I know you are, dear," she sighed, "But we'll be there soon. I promise…"

A yawn caused her to stop her sentence, Feliciano quickly mimicking her.

Roderich, who was riding behind the two, had Prinz trot forward to catch up and join them. Elizabeta turned and gave him a weak smile, which he returned.

Suddenly, he reached over and took the reins from Elizabeta's hands, looping them over Edelweiss' head to hold them himself.

"What are you doing?" she asked confusedly.

"Get some rest," he said simply, "I'll make sure she stays steady."

"But what about –"

"Goodnight, darling."

It was clear she didn't have much choice in the matter. Roderich was a gentleman, and a stubborn one at that. Complying was probably the best option at this point.

Before she could even try to object again, her lids had fluttered shut and her breathing was soft and light as dreams flitted in her brain.

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><p>It didn't feel like it had been very long when Elizabeta opened her eyes again, though the setting she was in was far different from the one she'd fallen asleep in.<p>

For one, she was laying down on something, not sitting up uncomfortably on the back of a horse. Granted, whatever she was laying on was rather stiff and not very comfortable, but it was something. On top of that, some kind of sheet covered her that seemed to attempt to act as a source of warmth.

She looked a bit more and saw Feliciano's small form lying beside her, his breathing deep and even in his heavy slumber. Well, at least he was here. But that didn't answer what was going on.

After a moment of consideration, she decided to sit up and take in her surroundings. They appeared to be in some sort of a small room, but that wasn't what she noticed first.

There was a body sitting at the edge of the bed (she assumed she was on a bed judging by the pillow and sheet), their bare back the only thing she could see. At first she wondered why the back was wet, until she noticed the person had a towel in their hands and was furiously attacking their hair with it. Once the towel was out of the way, she could see that one resilient piece sticking up, even when wet.

At least it was Roderich.

But with that realization, things only became worse. Roderich, the man she loved, was sitting shirtless at the bed she was laying in. It was safe to assume he had just bathed and to be honest, from the angle, she wasn't sure if he was wearing any clothing at all.

An enormous amount of blood rushed to her face, her nose in particular, and she couldn't help but make an embarrassed squeaking noise.

Roderich jumped at the noise and craned his head to look at the cause of the noise. His violet eyes widened at the sight of an extremely embarrassed Elizabeta, which in turn only made him more embarrassed.

"Elizabeta!" he said quickly, standing up and turning to face her.

Fortunately for her, Roderich was wearing pants, otherwise she might have fainted. Despite this, now she was face with his bare chest, which only made her produce a noise that sounded far from human. He looked down and realized this as well, his face possibly becoming redder than Elizabeta's.

"Scheiße!" he hissed as he reached down to grab his shirt he'd left on the floor.

He turned around as he slid it on and began to button it, almost mute with embarrassment.

"Such a s-sight is i-i-inappropriate for a l-lady," he stammered.

She could hear how humiliated was, which made her embarrassment fade away to be replaced with hysteric giggles.

"We kind of are lovers, you know," she teased.

Roderich almost choked on air.

"Not in that c-context! Not yet at least, I mean… We don't… do that sort of thing."

This only made her laugh harder. It really was adorable to see him flounder for words like this. Only a proper gentleman would do such a thing; any other lover would have used it for further advances. But that was what she loved about him. That and pretty much everything else.

"Well I'm not going to try and get into that, as much as I would enjoy _that_ sort of thing," she sighed, causing Roderich to nearly hack up a lung with his mortified coughing fit.

"Rather, I would like to know where we are exactly."

After a moment of composure and making sure that all his buttons were securely fastened, Roderich turned around to give her an answer before pausing and chuckling a bit to himself.

"What?" she demanded.

"You're not the most… graceful it appears when it comes to waking up."

She reached up and found that her hair was tangle and frizzy, her clothes rumpled, and her eyelids felt like they were drooping to her chin. It was probably safe to say that Roderich's accusation was correct.

"Oh, hush," she hissed, throwing the sheet off of her and crawling down the length of the mattress.

Roderich had sat down by now and eyed her curiously as she sat up on her knees behind him and draped herself over him. She rested her head in the crook of his neck and sighed.

"Can you tell me where we are now?" she repeated.

"Some city whose name I forget," he replied, "Some kilometers outside of Berlin. I came across this inn and decided that it would be best to rest here. I spoke to the owner and he said that Vienna is a few days away by train. I don't know what we'll do with the horses, but a train will certainly be much quicker."

As he explained everything to her, Elizabeta just nodded and occasionally made sounds of agreement. She didn't really care where they were as long as they were together.

"I had just used the bath and wasn't expecting you to wake up when… well you know the rest."

She giggled softly and placed a kiss on his neck before sitting back upright and stretching. It really was sweet of him to act this way as it was hard to find many decent men, especially after being exposed to Gilbert for so long.

"Would you be a dear and fetch me my spectacles?" he asked, "They're on the stand by the bed."

Elizabeta was about to comply when a high-pitched voice suddenly reached her ears.

"I got them! Here, Mr. Austria!"

Elizabeta turned to see that Feliciano was now awake and had managed to retrieve Roderich's glasses, a bright smile on his face that glowed with accomplishment.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Elizabeta praised as she took them from him to hand to Roderich.

Feliciano's grin only widened until Elizabeta reached over and praised him with a well deserved hug.

"I'm going to go become presentable," she said once the boy was satisfied with his affection, "And I think I'll go out and see if I can find something to eat for us."

"I'm sure there's a restaurant or two available," Roderich pointed out.

"Are you saying you don't like my cooking?"

Roderich knew better than to reply to that (though he did love her cooking) and simply shrugged.

"Would you like me to join you?"

"I think I'll be okay. You might want to find out more about getting to Austria-Hungary by talking with the manager anyway. And someone has to watch Feli."

He looked surprised at that comment, as did Feliciano.

"You boys need some bonding time," she teased, "It'll be good for you."

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><p>He hadn't meant to do anything wrong. Mama and Papa said he was a good boy. So why was he in trouble?<p>

The bread had just looked so delicious and Papa hadn't brought back some food in a while. His belly hurt and it just told him to take it.

Just touching it made him feel better and its warm smell only enhanced that feeling.

But now he was being chased by that big man from behind the counter, the one who spoke funny words that he didn't understand.

If the man hadn't had that big bread knife and wasn't yelling so loud, he wouldn't have run away. But his brain told him otherwise and he ran as fast as his five year old legs could carry him, clutching the loaf of bread for dear life.

He was panting for air, moving around the forest of legs that belonged to the adults that were in the street, all of whom made some sound of irritation when the boy ran past. Tears began to sting his eyes; he just wanted to feed Mama and Papa since they were both so hungry.

Something, some cruel twist of fate, decided to lash out and cause the boy to trip, scraping his elbows and squashing his prize in the process. He whimpered pathetically, knowing that the scary man was going to get him and that he'd let down Mama and Papa.

The loud yells of the man were getting closer and closer.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

The boy hadn't heard this voice before. It was angry, but not like the scary man's. It had a different tone; it belonged to a woman.

Suddenly, he was being lifted and was met with the kind face of a most beautiful creature. She was lovely, though not so lovely as his Mama, with big green eyes and flowing brown hair. Those eyes showed worry and concern for the boy, something he only saw from his parents.

Elizabeta was furious. How could this be possible? Were people honestly that cruel and horrible these days? It didn't seem like reality.

"What are you doing, chasing a little boy with a knife?" she hissed as she held him close, "Do you not have a heart?"

"He stole from me!" the man barked in words that the boy actually could understand.

"Of course he did, the poor thing is skin and bones! A little bread won't hurt him, or you!"

"That bread is how I keep _my _family from becoming skin and bones!"

The man had gotten increasingly angry and now appeared to be ready to strike the kind lady who'd come and saved this little boy. But Elizabeta held her ground, refusing to step down.

"You little!"

As he swung his arm down to possibly stab her with that horribly large blade, another arm shot into the picture, grabbing the man's wrist.

Elizabeta, who had closed her eyes in order to brace herself for impact, opened them to see someone much larger, much taller, and honestly much scarier had stopped the crazed baker.

He towered over all of them, he had to be taller than any man Elizabeta had ever seen, his cold blue eyes framed by glasses fixed on her. His blond hair was choppy and his lips set in a straight line, only adding to his intimidating appearance.

The boy in her arms turned to see what had happened and a smile quickly lit up his face.

"Papa!" he cried joyously.

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><p><strong>Finally! Geez, I thought it was going to take <em>forever <em>to get here. But hey, I finally did it. Not sure if you all made the connection, but if you go back a few chapters, this whole ending part is connected, I promise. IT MAKES SENSE IN MY BRAIN I TELL YOU.**

**So yay, story is moving forward. Now all we need is... MORE CONFLICT! Ha, I love throwing in random twists so you all might want to prepare yourselves because I plan for a _lot _to happen from now on. It might not be right away, or all at once, but I'm gonna throw stuff at you. It might need the rating to go up to be honest. Not due to like smut or anything, just the heavy content that I plan on inserting. So just warning you now.**

**On that happy note, I hope you guys are enjoying the fic. I'll hopefully be updating more, but you never know, stuff might come up with my luck. Please leave a review, I _love _them, or you can favorite or follow the story to see what happens. Until next time!**

**P.S. By the way _Scheiße_ means "shit" in German. I don't like putting up translations because most of them are one word and easy to figure out, but hey, I thought I'd give you guys a little help if you need it.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Well hey look at that, an update. So this isn't very common. But hey, I felt like getting this out. It's a short chapter so I apologize in advance, but it's still important because I don't believe in fillers. I think they just create empty space and I am all about getting as much content out there as I possibly can! So despite the fact that it's short, it does play a role in the development of the story, I promise! That's all until the end so hope you enjoy!**

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><p><em>Never knew I could feel that much<em>

_And that's the way I loved you_

"The Way I Loved You" by Taylor Swift

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><p>Chapter 11<p>

It was difficult for Elizabeta to think straight as those terrifying blue eyes continued to stare at her, registering no sign of emotion. She didn't even really know what she was doing anymore.

The boy in her arms suddenly made some kind of sound, causing her to look down at the distressed little one. All she could see was his blonde mop of hair, but he was attempting to reach for the man who had just appeared.

Once their gaze broke, the man looked away and at the man with the knife, his eyes hard. The baker was searching for words, too afraid to find any.

The terrifying blue-eyed man reached into his pocket with a free hand and pulled out what looked like a small silver coin, tossing it to the other.

"Fer yer tr'ble," he muttered in a heavy accent.

The man just blinked and ran back to his shop, making sure not to drop the currency he'd just been given.

Confused as ever, Elizabeta just kept staring, not knowing how to react.

The boy, who'd grown frustrated, leapt out of her arms and clung to the man's leg, crying and apologizing furiously.

"I didn't mean to!" he blubbered, "I just wanted to feed you and Mama and the bread was right there and I just thought –"

As if he hadn't heard him, the man reached up and lifted the boy in his arms, cradling him. He muttered something even harder to hear in the boy's ear and then turned to Elizabeta.

"Ah owe ya mah l'fe," he said in that strange accent, "Fer s'ving mah son."

"Pardon?" she asked in surprise.

Did this man just say he owed her his _life? _All she'd done was stood up to some crazy man who was going to hurt an innocent boy. Anyone would have done the same thing. Then again, no one had and that was why she had to do so herself…

"Berwald! Berwald, did you find Peter?" a panicked voice called out.

Just then, a small figure ran up to Elizabeta and her new "acquaintances." At first glance, the person looked like a female, with big eyes and large hips. But upon further examination, Elizabeta realized it _was_ in fact a man who had now taken the child and was speaking to him frantically.

"Don't you _dare _run away like that again!" he scolded, "You had me worried sick! You're lucky your father found you or else –"

"The lady saved me!" the boy blurted out, pointing a chubby finger at Elizabeta.

The smaller man looked up surprised and immediately began rambling out of embarrassment.

"Oh goodness, I'm sorry," he said quickly, "Did you really save Peter? I don't know what from exactly, but he tends to get into trouble when he knows better. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! My name's Tino and this little one is Peter."

Elizabeta smiled the whole time Tino spoke. He was so happy and sweet, it was hard to dislike him. The smile on his face just seemed so genuine.

"Oh, and this is Berwald," he added, gesturing to the large man with the unusual accent.

Berwald nodded and gestured to Tino.

"This is mah w'fe," he grunted.

Elizabeta's eyes widened in surprise as Tino laughed nervously, shaking his head. To be honest, Elizabeta wouldn't have minded if that statement were true. Two men in love, with a child, doing god only knows what in their private time… Blood was already rushing to every corner of her face.

"Ha, well Berwald and I do travel together," Tino admitted, "But I'm not his _wife. _Peter is his son and started to call me his mother so I think Berwald got the same idea into his head…"

"I don't mind," Elizabeta said, "I think it's sweet."

Not only did Tino's eyes widen, but Berwald looked genuinely surprised as well. It probably wasn't often that the thought of two men together would be considered "sweet" in this day and age. Even if such a relationship didn't apply to Tino and Berwald, Elizabeta was proud of herself for having a more accepting view of human nature than most people.

"But Berwald did mention something about owing me his life?"

Tino gave another embarrassed laugh as he set Peter down, the boy quickly running over to cling to his father's leg.

"Berwald tends to be, er, dramatic in some situations," he explained, "Especially anything that involves Peter. I don't think he means to take it that far, but he and I are both very grateful to you."

Elizabeta blushed and shook her head. She wasn't used to being praised or complimented by anyone other than Roderich, let alone a complete stranger.

"I would've done what any sensible person would," she mumbled, "It's nothing special."

"Well to us it is. We're homeless and don't exactly have any means of money or food, so it wasn't really a surprise that Peter would do something so reckless – he is just a boy after all. But given our circumstances, it was truly noble of you to take pity on him… there have been many times when he, or myself and Berwald, just get kicked or spat on."

That just about did it for Elizabeta. She couldn't bear to hear such unfortunate things when she and Roderich had been in a mansion not so long ago. There had to be something she could do.

"Why don't you come with me?" she offered, "My… partner and I are in town as of now as we are on our way to Austria-Hungary, but we'd be more than happy to treat you all to a meal. After all, Berwald did keep that man from doing anything rash."

Tino, who seemed to not realize the lengths of what had happened, looked at Berwald horrified, who just nodded and gave what looked like a smile.

"Ya s'ved mah son," he said simply, "Ah h'd to."

"Well either way, I want you all to be treated well and to have a nice meal for such kindness. It's not often to run into such folk nowadays."

Tino looked like he was about to cry he was so happy. Without really thinking, he ran over and wrapped his arms around the woman and buried himself in her shoulder.

"Thank you so much!" he wept, "If you need anything, I promise we will give it to you!"

She didn't really think that any circumstance would require that, but nonetheless she appreciated his demeanor and knew that she had made a wise choice and possibly a new friend.

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><p><strong>Ridiculously short chapter is short. I know, I'm sorry, don't hate me. But I wanted to clarify what exactly went down in the last chapter so now I hope you guys feel less lost. Also, I realized that Sweden's way of speaking is NOT fun to type. Oh well, I still love him.<strong>

**Ok so this is probably going to be a surprise to all of you but I just published a new fic yesterday! DUN DUN! If you like this one, I highly recommend that you take a look at it because even though Hungary is the main character in both of these, they are completely different plots and I have a lot of new ideas for it. Also, it's set in cardverse so for those of you who are interested in that, I definitely suggest it because there are mainly only cardverse fics with USUK as the main pairing/plot and (as much as I love that pairing) I thought I'd do something different. It's called _Know Your Place _and it _is _rated M unlike this story due to content, I shall warn you now. It's up already so you can find it on my profile page if you'd like. I'd love it if you dropped by and looked at it, because you all seem to support this one so much!**

**Other than that I think I'm done here. Please leave a review telling me what you thought, they mean the world to me like you guys! Or just favorite or follow it, whatever floats your boat~ Until next time, I love you all and appreciate all your kind words! Without you, I don't know where I'd be today. Love you guys!**


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